A brilliantly paced piece
Sobriety, sex, secrets – Michael John Ciszewski has meditations on them all. And just meditations, in general. In his unique and funny hour chronicling his time in recovery, Ciszewki catapults his way from pop culture reference to hard, sobering truth in an effortlessly charming style. Cizewski is both dry and energetic in equal measure – his anecdotes echo with niche celebrity content (one particular highlight is the ‘Ryan Murphy industrial complex’) but have a surprisingly poetic undertext. Add in the various preludes in which Cizewski pops on a pair of headphones and listens to a self-help CD that waxes both philosophical and absurdist, and you end up with a brilliantly paced piece.
Cizewski is certainly a master of rhythm, but I am unsure as to whether the form of the show works. It feels a lot like a one-man show that’s disguised as a stand-up gig; the jokes are original, but their delivery is often stylized, leaving me unsure as to how I’m meant to feel about them. There is a beautiful heart to the piece – about acceptance, and ambition, which is marred slightly by some moments that seem to lack structure. The characters that appear feel a bit one-note, and I wished to hear more about his personal journey. The hour ended, however, with a beautiful moment of emotion, and Cizewski had a command over the room you don’t often find; I’m just not sure in what way that command was hoping to make us feel.
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/michael-john-ciszewski-if-memory-serves